DJI Mavic Pro: Active Track Mode

It's like having a robot drone follow you around and take videos of you, no matter what you are doing.

You simply tell the drone via tapping on the screen what to follow, and your Mavic Pro does the rest.

Of course, there is more to it than that, which is why I recommend you keep on reading...​

What Is Active Track Mode?

Active Track Mode is an intelligent flight mode the Mavic Pro can use to automatically follow a subject and film video at the same time.

It can follow most moving objects, provided they are distinguishable from the background (so no wearing your camouflage gear in the forest!) and that the Mavic Pro can travel as fast (so traveling less than 35mph / 55km/h approx).

So, that means the Mavic Pro can potentially track you doing most sports and even driving a boat, car or motorbike, as long as you are not driving too fast.

Here is a Mavic Pro following a car and it can only keep up until about 33mph / 55km/hr.

Active Track Mode Options

Profile - keeps a side view (profile) of the subject as it moves (and tries to keep up if the speed changes)

Spotlight - the drone remains fixed in position and tracks the subject through camera angle changes

I have used both Trace and Profile quite a bit and they work well for tracking the subject.

Active Tracking Pitfalls

Active Track is great, but it is only as good as the things you are expecting it to do. You need to know your surroundings (and future surroundings) and the capabilities of the Mavic Pro.

The drone can only track up to about 33mph (55km/hr) so fast vehicles will get ahead of the drone and it will lose tracking ability

The drone needs to be able to keep the subject in sight, so if you move around a corner or under the drone too fast, Active Track will fail and stop (I even walked under a single tree and it lost me)

You need to be aware of all potential obstacles in your path (The drone will track you and keep a distance from you. It will try to reframe the camera, but sometimes it moves when you don't expect it. Crashes when trees, buildings, branches etc are around is almost inevitable. I always use these moves in clear spaces)

If you want a smooth shot you need to keep the subject at a fairly constant speed (The Mavic tries to keep up, but will sometimes make jerky movements as it accelerates and stops as you change speed)

The Mavic also tends to have a hard time tracking from a large distance (when the subject appears too small)

All in all it's a great mode, but it has limitations. You should play with it where there is a lot of space. Give your drone plenty of height and make sure it can't hit anything, even when you think it won't go somewhere (it might).

When To Use Active Tracking

Active Tracking is great for when you want constant focus on one subject but controlling it by hand would be tough.

This is especially useful with sports, but can really be applied to anything. DJI even says it can track animals!

Other Settings While In Active Tracking Mode

There is one other cool setting worth mentioning that you can use in active track mode and that is the "circling" option. If you use the Trace option you can slide a slider which determines how wide a circle the Mavic makes around the subject as it is tracking. So, you get tracking and circling all in one!

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